A Little Bit About Me
At the heart of my offerings...
I Believe...
The psyche knows how to heal when given safety, space, support and respect. Healing emerges naturally when the unconscous is met without interpretation, pressure or agenda.
I Believe...
Symbols speak where words cannot. The unconscious communicates through image, sensation, myth and metaphor, often revealing truth and integration beyond cognitive understanding.
I Believe...
Transformation unfolds through relationship, not fixing. It is the protected, attuned relationship - to self, other and the symbolic field - that allows deep change to occur.
Wunya! (Hello)
I'm Monique
Thank you for dropping in to find out a little more about me. I am the creator of Into The Woods and Somatic SandDreaming® Circles, and direct a First Nations–led clinical counselling and training business based on the unceeded lands of the Gubbi Gubbi people of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. I am bi-racial, with proud lineage to my Wiradjuri ancestors and unknown ancestral ties to Ireland and Scotland. A registered sand therapist, clinical counsellor, psychotherapist, consultant and trainer, I bring over twenty years of experience and a deep devotion to creating spaces where the soul can speak in its own language; through image, feeling, pattern and rhythm, supporting healing and integration to unfold in its own time.
Guided by archetypal and ancestral wisdom, mythology, symbol and Country, and grounded in a commitment to somatic sovereignty, I honour each person's inner authority and deep knowing carried through the body, images, story, ancestors, place and deep time.
Wunya Ngulum
Welcome Everyone.
Are you a person or practitioner who feels deeply, cares tenderly and longs for a way of living and working that honours both people and planet? This is a space for womxn who sense the weight of the world and are committed to being part of its healing; through presence, relationship and reverence rather than force or fixing.
I warmly welcome those of you who are drawn to a soul-led life, guided by inner alignment, symbolic meaning and embodied truth. The work I offer is for those who value support, slowness and depth; who understand the importance of creating spaces where the nervous system can settle, the psyche can unfold and the soul can speak in its own time.
Are you drawn to listening deeply over formulaic answers, process over urgency, and symbols over certainty? Here we understand that healing is both an inner journey and a collective responsibility.
If you are longing for work that is grounded, ethical and deeply human, work that remembers our belonging to land, lineage and one another, you are warmly welcome here.
Journey's of Soul Initiation:
How Sandplay Offers the Medicine of Personal & Collective Transformation
Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter, 'The Symbolic Thread', and be among the first to hear all the latest news about my offerings, as well as personal seasonal reflections and reading recommendations. As a heartfelt thank you from me, you'll receive a free copy of this e-book as a gift!
My Approach
My work is grounded in the belief that healing is not meant to happen in isolation, but in the presence of others; witnessed, held and supported within community. I honour the intelligence of the body and the quiet power of therapeutic touch, recognising that transformation often occurs beneath words, in the realm of sensation, symbol and relationship. While stories matter, I have found that deep healing emerges less from retelling them and more from expressing them through image, movement, pattern and the symbolic language of the psyche. In this way, we allow what lives within to be seen, felt and transformed without needing to be explained.
Rooted in a somatic, depth-oriented, animistic and earth-honouring approach, I see personal healing and planetary healing as intimately intertwined. To find true belonging, my work invites people back into relationship with their bodies, with one another and with the living world, drawing on nature as both mirror and guide in the therapeutic process. I am devoted to creating spaces that are relational, experiential and gently initiatory; spaces where individuals can rediscover belonging, embodied truth and the quiet wisdom that emerges when we listen deeply to psyche, soma and Country.
Testimonials
LET OTHERS INSPIRE YOU.
"Dear Monique, I wanted to let you know what a difference you made in my life. Your professionalism, warmth, genuine concern and knowledge provided a safe space for me to learn, understand and grow. It truly was a life changing journey. I am now stronger, happier and more independent in my relationship than ever before. Thank you."
Penny Knight
"Dear Monique, I honestly don't know how I would have made it through the last 2 years without you as my treasured guide and confidante. Your deep compassion, kindness and care has been a light in the darkness and a soothing balm in a time that felt devastating on so many levels.
Your willingness to go to the really hard places with me with grace, lightness and respectful curiosity felt like a life-raft in a wild night sea, far from land.
There's a beauty and depth to the work you do that holds me in so much safety and at the same time teaches me invaluable inner skills to bring to my personal path. I treasure you and our sessions and feel so grateful for all of the professional skill and inner presence you bring. Eternally grateful to you."
